heather: they don't call it the graveyard shift for nothing. ouch, taking out the trash when a truck plows right into him. he was not seriously injured. bill: you're kidding me. good luck. we'll see you tomorrow everybody. heather: "happening now" right now. jenna: fox news alert. take a look at these markets, what is happening on wall street today, fairly significant. you see the markets down about 200 points. we have a few reasons for that we're going to get through throughout the show today, one includes jobless claims. again we had more than 400,000 americans file for unemployment in the latest week. that is the 11th straight week we've seen that, and, again, it's a sign that we are not seeing a whole lot of job growth in this country. of course we also have debt concerns over in europe, and also an interesting piece of news on the energy sector that is affecting energy stocks that can either rally, or drag down the market. and that's one of the things we

are seeing today. jon: and that is our second fox news alert. the obama administration just decided to release 30 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. now that is a move that could impact the price you pay at the pump this summer. gas prices had been coming down on their own any way, so a lot of skeptics are wondering exactly what the timing of this administration action means. according to the energy department and secretary steven chew we are taking this action due to supply disruptions in libya and other count throws and their impact on global economic recovery. the libya disruption began several months ago. again the timing is curious. we'll be talking about that a little bit later on in "happening now."

jon: a good thursday morning to you, i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna leave. we're keeping you guessing today, we're not in the fox newsroom. jon: no we are not. jenna: we had a little type problem. jon: a little plumbing issue. jenna: a pipe broke. we moved studios. we certainly have all the news for you that is "happening now." we are awaiting court action for the notorious boston mob boss turned f.b.i. informant, turned most wanted fugitive just nabbed after 16 years on the run, the f.b.i. catching up with james whitey bull tkpwer in santa monica, california. he took off in 1985 after getting a type from an f.b.i. agent that he was about to be indicted. the case attracting worldwide attention since then. he rose to the top of the f.b.i.'s most wanted list after the death of osama bin laden. just this week the feds stepped up efforts to find the fugitive mobster and his longtime

girlfriend. >> this is an announcement by the f.b.i. have you seen this woman? the f.b.i. is offering $100,000 for tips leading to catherine grieg's whereabouts. these photos are from the early 1909s. she has had plastic surgery. she is wanted for harboring james whitey bulger. he has a violent temper and is charged with 19 murders. call the tip line at 1-88-call-f.b.i. jon: neighbors said the couple blended in. called them an easy gracious couple, a far cry from a coldblooded killer who feds say is respoible for a reign of murder that spanned a quarter of a century. folks who followed the case closely say they are stunned that whitey was finally caught. >> he's practically in our backyard and we grew up with him aur whole life in our backyard and come over here, and here he is again.

we see on the news we caught him, it was like no way, we it can't be. maybe it's a sighting or something. they can't catch him, no way. jenna: adam housley is like at u.s. district court in los angeles. adam, how did they finally catch this guy. >> reporter: after a long manhunt it was a quick take down. the first tip came in here in los angeles, the latest tip, the first tip was yesterday morning at 11:00 a.m. by 4:00 p.m. they had surveillance around the apartment complex in santa monica three miles from the beach. less than an hour later they arrested whitey bulger outside the apartment, they lured him outside and then they went in and arrested catherine grieg right afterwards. she is the alleged accomplice of bulger for the 16 years they've been on the lamb. they were found with substantial cash, guns inside the apartment as well. he could face the death penalty in cases outside the boston jurisdiction, but as for the federal cases he's being felled

on right now those will put him life in prison if he's convicted. the f.b.i. said this whole case was about persistence paying off. >> although there are those who have doubted our resolve at times over the years, it has never wavered. we followed every lead, we explored every possibility, and when those leads ran out we did not sit back and wait for the phone to ring. the result is we have captured one of the f.b.i.'s ten most wanted fugitives, a man notorious in boston and around the world. >> reporter: bulger and grieg were going by the name of charles and carol gaskow when they were arrested. we were talking with our federal contacts in los angeles. they said when they approached them there were no problems whatsoever. he came into custody without incident. at the same time they were a bit surprised about how much stuff they found in that apartment. it appears he has been here for some time.

jenna. jenna: incredible. and such a controversial case for the f.b.i. what is expected to happen today, adam? >> reporter: well he will be going into the courthouse behind me. what this location is, there's actually two courthouses in los angeles, in downtown. this one happens to be right next door to where they had the federal holding facility. they don't have to worry about taking him down the street. one authority said they could have him at the other courthouse, that means they would have to transport him in a car. they want to make it easy and as quick as possible and they want to be as safe as possible. this is a guy no matter how old he is who has been on the run for 16 years. they don't want any hitches whatsoever in this process today. taking him from the holding facility to this courthouse is an underground tunnel, very easy and secure, that's what they want to make sure happens today when he goes in there. we are being told that the hearing is probably going to be about 2:00 local time. they still have not secured that time. it could be a little bit earlier. we are saying that's a slot that the federal authorities want and we'll have a chance to hear more

about that in the courtroom. there will be no booking photo released because federal authorities do not release booking photos. as you've seen there has been some video. one more quick tidbit too, jenna. the first reports was that they were a couple that blended in. now we are hearing from neighbors around here, why his accomplice, catherine grieg was cord tkal and nice, whitey was not very nice and he was known for having a short temper when he saw her talking to other people. kind of obvious when they've been on the run for such a longtime. jenna: you make a lot of great poeurpbgts adam. we'll get back to you as news warrants. adam housley following one of our biggest stories today, jon. jon: another big story involves the weather, thousands of people in north dakota bracing for what could be the worst flooding in decades. take a look at the water already gushing into the town of minot. 12,000 residents forced out of their homes as the souris river

spills over the levees into surrounding communities. that river is still rising and it's expected to top the historic record by more than five feet inundating homes and businesses over the next few days. >> i have four little boys, i'm a single father, i am scared out of my mind. if this house is ruined it doesn't sound like the landlord is going to fix it. i have no idea what my family is going to do. >> i woke up and ty were like you have to evacuate immediately. i said oh, no. i had to leave most of my stuff up there at my place, and it's just rough trying to hal haul everybody. i couldn't take nothing with me but the clothes and documents. i had to leave everything. jon: joining us on the phone is the minot mayor. mr. mayor what is the biggest problem right now, i suppose finding housing for all the people who have been forced out,

huh? >> that is a major problem for sure, although around here neighbors are pretty good, and friends, and relatives, and april families have taken those in, they've been pretty much taking them all in that have been displaced. jon: the river as i understand it is not expected to crest until monday. you still have a lot of problems yet to go, huh. >> honestly they moved the crest up to probably saturday, sunday now, so, yeah, we've got a ways to go, and, you know, it's inundating neighborhoods now, it's breached the dikes in some areas. we are looking at another seven-foot wall of water coming through here. it's just unprecedented. jon: it sure is, so sad. how much of your town, what percentage of the population is being forced out? >> well, it's probably at least a quarter of the population, maybe a little more than that. it's in the neighborhood of 11

to 12,000 people that will be -- that are displaced now. jon: i know that you have said your people did a great job of evacuating, you know, quickly, and efficiently, i mean this wasn't another katrina situation where people kind of sitting around waiting until the last minute, huh? >> right. we had a little better than two days to get people out, and they were very good about getting out, although we did have to at the end shorten the time that they had as they moved -- as we saw the water rise. jon: i guess the good news and we heard it in a little bit of that sound byte from would one young father, he says there is no place to live in minot. the economy in north dakota is in pretty good shape, i think it's actually among the best of the states and you don't have a lot of available housing there, do you? >> no, we've been trying to build houses as fast as we can to keep up at all and really haven't been able to keep up. there is very limited space

available for people to go, other than friends and family. jon: the mayor of minot, north dakota. i know you have a lot of work to do. thanks for talking to us. and we wish you well in handling the floods. jenna: a huge new development in washington d.c. in the debt talks led by vice president joe biden. we've just learned house majority leader eric cantor pulled out of the discussions. senior white house foreign affairs correspondent wendell goler is live at the white house with more on this. what happened. >> reporter: the white house has said that the biden talks were making progress but apparently not enough for virginia republican eric cantor who says he is pulling out of the talks effective immediately. he will not attend today's meeting. he says because democrats continue to insist on rolling back the bush administration tax cuts for the wealthy as part of their prescription for dealing with the nation's budget

deficit. cantor says there is no support in the house of representatives for what amounts to a tax increase. democrats say, without it the nation's debt will be paid off only by the pour and middle class. the president, vice president meeting with democratic congressional leaders later today, trying to come up with a solution to rollback the budget deficit and raise the count cous borrowing authority. jenna: there is a little bit of a story behind a story here. there's a certain evidence that maybe the white house's message on the economy has changed? can you tell us a little more about that. >> reporter: it may be less of a change in message than a change in tone. the president has long said that the economy is not creating jobs fast enough, even though it's creating jobs faster than it did in the bush administration, because it is not filling the huge hole created by the recession. but yesterday at an economic forum chief of staff bill daly said, we're in a crisis. >> we are in a crisis.

we are trying to get some people to understand that this is a real crisis, and the ways in which things happen in this town have got to be jump started based upon the difficulty we are in. i think we are having results there. i think we are seeing that with a lot of the programs. >> reporter: now the president called it a crisis when he took office and the economy was losing 700,000 jobs a month. today the labor department reported that unemployment claims rose more than expected last week. overall job growth is still positive. in what may be a sign of the president's dissatisfaction, if you will, with the economy, the white house announced today that he is releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. it takes about a week or ten days for that to get into the market. the goal is to make sure that there is no spike in gasoline prices in july and august. jenna: we'll continue to watch this. wendell, thank you very much. jon: more grim numbers out today

on unemployment and housing, not good news for the country earth president as we enter election season. and brand-new polls shed some light on how americans feel about president obama and our economy. jenna: not good news for really anybody. plus a jury has decided and a famous spirit aourl guru could go to prison for years in his role in the deaths of three people. we'll have more on that coming up. harris has your choices for which stories you want to see more of. >> reporter: one of them is hard news coming from a police department in the u.s. right now. looking for somebody who ran over a store clerk. the video is the must-see moment if you choose it. remember, if you choose it. foxnews.com/"happening now." you can vote on the video you'd most like to see. your other choices are a huge rainbow, it's a natural phenomenon around a plane. it's really kind of cool. and then some siberian taoeurgs, very special, beautiful, they were a gift.

spectacular video too. i can't over sell it because i love animals. it's your choice, you go to our "happening now" page on foxnews.com on the right hand side about halfway down. you make the choice, we'll tell you what you chose. "happening now" will be right back. [ male announcer ] millions of men 45 and older

just don't feel like they used to. are you one of them? remember when you had more energy for 18 holes with your buddies. more passion for the one ya love. more fun with your family and friends. it could be a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t.

come on, stop living in the shadows. you've got a life to live. [ male announcer ] so don't blame it on aging. talk to your doctor and go to isitlowt.com to find out more.

jon: right now some fresh evidence the struggling economy poses problems for president obama's re-election hopes. a new poll from the associated press finds for the first time this year less than 50% of americans think the president deserves a second term. another ap poll reveals 4 out of five people believe the economy is in poor shape. pwreul crystal is editor of the weekly standard and a fox news political analyst. turning your attention before we get to the polling, bill to something else, you say that the white house is panicking and that's reflected in that release

from the strategic reserve. >> oil prices have actually topped out and have been going down the last three, four weeks. in any case this is a very small release and it doesn't address the issue. why doesn't the president give permits for drilling around the country. why doesn't he tell the environmental protection agency which is part of his administration to allow natural gas to be found and brought up in the domestic -- in the united states where there turns out to be a ton of it. it's not a serious energy policy, it's a panic decision. it's all politics all the time. if you do a poll people think the wealthy should pay for taxes. so let's increase the taxes for the wealthy. let's break up the talks by insist on spending even though they should be talks about reducing spending and getting the deficit down. most striking lee last night was

the president's announcement about the 2012 deadline cutting the fighting season in half last year and really putting at risk our achievements in afghanistan. it is remarkable when our troop deployment schedule is being determined by david axelrod not by david petraeus. jon: it comes on the heels of what ben bernanke said. that the economy is not growing even as quickly as the federal reserve thought it would. >> right. it doesn't seem to have worked either. he could now at this moment get serious about dealing with the problems that we need to address. he could try to work with republicans on domestic policy. he could have given the commander's, general petraeus and the other generals on the ground what we need to much more likely be a success. i say this honestly in distress. i think it's very bad for the country, and it will be a very difficult next year and a half.

he's decided to tkepl going on energy and policy. i find this shocking, to follow the advice of david axelrod instead of david petraeus on what our troop deployment should be in afghanistan. jon: bill crystal from the weekly standard. we'll be talking about all of those things in the hours ahead. thank you. jenna: fox news alert staying with you down in d.c. we are waiting any comments coming from the house speaker john boehner this morning. he has his weekly briefing with reporters. why this is particularly important today is he pay talk about majority leader eric cantor pulling out of the debt talks with the vice president. we heard that moments ago. any news breaks here we will bring you the headlines. he he inspired a blockbuster movie about the mob. the man at the top of the f.b.i.'s top ten most wanted list is behind bars. we talked to a former fugitive task force member who hunted boston crime boss whitey bulger for years. we have new information how the

arrest went down. we'll bring that to you. listen up harry potter fans. you can soon recapture all the magic in a whole new way. [ female announcer ] only yoplait original

has twice the calcium of the leading yogurt. that's 50% of the daily value. pass on the news and make sure you and everyone you know is getting the calcium they need.

♪

jon: you might have heard about the debt reduction talks led by joe biden in washington. they seem to be falling apart. the house majority leader eric cantor has pulled out. let's listen to john boehner. he's briefing reporters. i has information on the budget today. >> to deal with our long-term fiscal problems. this is the moment, folks. the fight isn't about numbers, it's about jobs. it's about the future of our country. and we've got a chance to do something big, and we have that

chance to do it now. for the sake of our economy, the sake for the future of our kids and grand kids, this is a chance and an opportunity that we cannot afford to allow to pass. jon: the speaker of the house at his regular thursday news briefing. again, the big headline of the day is that eric cantor, the majority leader in the house of representatives has pulled out of those budget talks, debt reduction talks that were trying to come up with a way to reduce these large deficits that the nation is posting. with him out, well it's just not a good sign for the future of those talks. if you'd like to hear the speaker's conference as it continues we have it streaming live for you on foxnews.com. >> i'm going to have my

associate search you. >> you better get organized quick. >> last time i checked i tipped you off and you're not in jail. jenna: jack nicholson's character in the oscar winning film "the departed" is based on the notorious mob boss whitey bulger. the f.b.i. nabbing america's most wanted man after 16 years on the run. bulger along with his girlfriend found living in an apartment in santa monica, california. bulger is suspected in 19 grizzly murders . he's scheduled to be in court today in los angeles. we'll have continued coverage for you on that. in the meantime michael sullivan is a former prosecutor who headed the fugitive task force and spent nine years searching for bulger. michael, what are your thoughts this morning? >> good morning, jenna, actually extremely excited, relieved in many ways. you feel a sense of pride in behalf of the f.b.i. agents that

have been working tirelessly for the capture of james whitey bulger, and you're also reminded that there are scores of victims that suffered as a result of james whitey bulger's crime sprees. jenna: we can't forget the victims as we take a look at whitey on the screen here, known for his white hair, that's how he got the nickname. the f.b.i. has taken heat for not catching this guy sooner. hind sight being 20-20 mike, why did it take so long? >> well he prepared for his fugitive status. he prepared a longtime. we were able to uncover a number of safety deposit boxes that we got to before he got to with large amounts of cash. james whitey bulger knew at some point in time he would be a fugitive. sadly he was tipped off in terms of the indictments out of the u.s. attorney's office in boston by a former now convicted f.b.i. agent. but fortunately the f.b.i. is a

proud organization, worked tirelessly. now it's handing some of the sin eubgs and criticism that they suffered along the way to make sure that james whitey bulger would be brought back and have to answer the charges that he's been charged with. jenna: you talk about the large amount of cash, for example that he's had in some of these safety deposit boxes. where does that cash come from? who do you think has been helping him? >> that's unclear at this point in time. certainly during the course of this fugitive investigation the f.b.i. and other members of the task force have looked to see whether or not that bulger has been supported in any way. you know, certainly the investigation will continue where they'll try to determine whether or not this is cash that james whitey bulger had secreted away over a period of time and was living off of or whether or not there were other people who were financially supporting him since his fugitive status. jenna: it will be interesting to watch to see how it develops.

a broader question for you michael with owl your expertise here. i'm curious your thoughts on this. we had a huge mob bust back in january, one of the largest in the country, if not the largest, right here in the new york city area you have this guy being caught as well. is the mob dead? is the mob over? >> well i don't think organized crime is over. that's what we characterize the mob as being is organized crime. clearly organized crime is out there and it takes all different shapes. the f.b.i. continues to dedicate a tremendous amount of resources to combat organized crime as do their partners in law enforcement. i don't think we can declare a complete victory. certainly it's not the organized crime families we saw 15 or 20 years ago. jenna: thank you for your expertise today, and thank you for joining us. >> thanks, jenna. jon: the defense in the casey anthony murder trial is working hard to try to poke holes in the prosecution's case.

today another forensic expert on the stand. so how is all the scientific evidence going over with this jury? there is casey anthony live in the courtroom right now. a look at the jurors' body language and what it may be telling us. also, a brand-new hydropower dam in the works, one that could have a major affect on our energy future because of the minimal impact it has on local wildlife. we are live with the story ♪ >> you can't see it, it's electric. ♪ you've got to see this. >> it's electric. ♪ let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist.

call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars.

call this toll-free number now. jon: breaking news this morning in the trial of a self-help guru charged in the deaths of three people during a 2009 sweat lodge ceremony. harris faulkner is on it, harris? >> reporter: james arthur ray told participants at a seminar he would help them breakthrough the bonds of life that were holding them back. then in 2009 people died following his instructions in the arizona desert. in fact, you may recall reports on that nightmare, people paid up to $10,000 apiece to attend the five-day program with ray, and in one of the sessions participants went into a sauna-like ceremony to sweat out toxins in the body. but in the end three people died and 1 others were hospitalized after succumbing to the heart-stopping heat. and now the punishment for the man who created a multimillion dollar empire from expensive

seminars like that one in sedona. jurors finding james arthur ray guilty of three counts of negligent homicide, and now what sentencing could he face? well, it ranges from probation to nearly 12 years in prison. prosecutors have lined up nine witnesses to testify at a hearing next week dealing with the sentences. by the way, jon and jenna, we're learning that prosecutors had wanted ray taken into custody immediately after the court proceedings wrapped up yesterday, but he got to walk out free. he left with his family, he didn't say anything, make any comment to the local media there in arizona. we'll be watching very closely next week that sentencing hearing to see what issues come up that might mitigate circumstances, that's what his attorneys are arguing. back to you. jon: a very strange and sad story. harris, thank you. >> reporter: sure. jenna: well, we have certainly talked a lot about the testimony in the casey anthony trial, but what about the jurors who are listening to it? it really comes down to them,

doesn't it? your taking -- you're taking what i believe is a live look inside the courtroom right now. apparently, there's some very telling body language from the jurors, and we're going to talk more about that with susan constantine, our next guest who's been watching them. she's a jury consultant and for most of the trial has been inside the courtroom. so, susan, based on what you see from the jury which side is winning? >> the prosecution is winning by far. i believe that we've got a majority effect here going on where more than three-quarters of the jury pool appear to be more state jurors, so i believe that they have the majority effect which can sway over some of the other jurors in getting a guilty verdict. jenna: for all of the access that we have, and we truly have incredible access inside the courtroom being able to see these live images bit by bit, but we haven't seen the jury at all for obvious reasons, and you have. tell us about them. what are they like?

how are they behaving? >> well, what i do is i compare creating a baseline, how do they respond from the very beginning and now compare that to where we are right now. first of all, let's also talk about nonverbal communication. 93% of how we communicate is nonverbal, so whatever they said in the beginning, someone says, you know, i may not be able to give a verdict of guilty, they can be swayed over because people say, people -- 7 % of their words you really can't hold a candle to it. juror number one, i believe, is a state witness. this is one that is -- she may be a foreman, she's equally weighing out the information. juror number two, i believe, is a witness. this one here never takes any notes. in fact, this guy i don't think has moved at all since he's been there. juror number three, i believe, is one that is straddling on the fence -- jenna: why do you think that? what makes you think that? >> because juror number three when you watch what she writes down, okay? what's important to her when

you're talking about where there's no evidence, she's making notes, and so is juror number four. three is straddling on the fence, number four is definitely a defense witness. this is the one that could cause some major problems in the state's case against casey anthony. jenna: susan, it's fascinating to hear that. unfortunately, we're not going to be able to go through every single juror, but that gives us an idea of how complicated the relationship can be and how that could affect the outcome. how do you think they feel about casey anthony herself? any indication? >> they don't like her. they don't like her, and they don't even pay any attention to her whatsoever. the very beginning when we were watching cindy break down and cry, they glanced over at casey anthony, they made notes. i think at that point in time a lot of them had already made up their minds, and in the beginning and opening statements most of those jurors had already decided guilt or innocence, and that's been consistent

throughout. jenna: amazing. susan, it's really fascinating to hear this part of the case that is so crucial and so important. thank you so much for joining us. >> you're welcome. jon: energy in america now. generating power from water with new microhydropowerred dams. the new dams differ from the ones that for decades environmentalists fought to tear down claiming they have a negative impact on fish and wetlands. these dams are said to have a minimal impact on wildlife while still providing power for thousands of homes. dan springer is live in monroe, washington, for us. dan, how significant could these dams be to our energy future? >> reporter: well, jon, there's enormous untapped potential here. you know, we think of dams as being an old technology, but really there are lot and lots of rivers around this country and especially here in washington state that don't have dams on them that could with little

impact. now, you know, washington state gets about 75% of its electricity from dams. however, dam has become a four-letter word here because environmental groups have been very strong in opposing them and getting some of them torn down. but this mini hydro dam which i'm standing on here will general mate electricity for thousands of homes -- generate electricity with little impact to the environment. the key is size and location on small rivers and creeks minimizing the impact on fish, mainly salmon, and that makes it truly green-powered. no carbon emissions, and here in the pacific northwest, of course, water is everywhere. >> it's a local resource, it's renewable, and, um, collectively if you do a number of these projects, it might add up to a good part of our energy needs. >> reporter: and the good news is that building a small dam, one of these micro dams, is actually cheaper, and you get more energy for the buck than you get in wind or solar power.

so it's actually works out economically, jon. jon: i know environmentalists don't like the big dams at all. how do they feel about the little ones? >> reporter: well, yeah, you're absolutely right. they hate the big dams. in fact, there are huge dams out in washington state. you've got the cooley dam which provides power to four and a half million people, a huge dam out there on the columbia river, and the bonneville dam. they don't like those, obviously, because they have big impacts on fish passage, and endangered salmon that come back up through those dams. but they are being relatively silent on the small dams because they see that the impacts are smaller, they're out on smaller creeks. in some cases like the one i'm at now that's just below a waterfall, that's a natural barrier to fish passage. however, you still have some groups like these groups that are all about, you know, kayaking, things like that, they say that these small dams are actually ting away places for them to play. >> the same rivers that are

attractive for hydroelectric development, that have the gradient that's suitable for that are the ones that we use for white water paddling. >> reporter: the one drawback to small dams? it also produces small amounts of electricity. this dam here, fewer than a thousand homes. i mentioned the grand cooley, 4.5 million homes powered by that dam. but if you add all these small dams up, it does make a dent in our energy needs. jon: dan springer streaming live. thank you, dan. jenna: we have some new econ numbers out showing even more americans are in need of jobs. one group having a tough time in particular, veterans back from afghanistan and iraq. we're live at an event meant to help all of our heros get back to work. we're live at the uss intricep bid just ahead. if congress really wants to balance the budget...

...they could stop spending our money on things like... ...a cotton institute in brazil... ...poetry at zoos... ...treadmills for shrimp... but instead of cutting waste... or closing tax loopholes... next month, congress could make a deal that cuts medicare... ...even social security. i guess it's easier to cut the benefits we ened... than to cut pickle technology. ♪

jenna: right now wall street taking in some, well, what can be described as a disturbing rise in unemployment. brand new job numbers showing

more americans are applying for jobless benefits in the latest week. you can see it's up 9,000 to 429,000 people. again, the 11th straight week above 400,000 in this country. now, nationally the unemployment rate is 9.1%. among veterans it's more than 12%. and as we're talking about the return of thousands of troops from afghanistan, we're going to be paying close attention to this number. fox business network's adam shapiro is live at the hiring heros job fair right here in new york city. adam, what are veterans saying about the challenges in finding work when they come home? >> reporter: well, jenna, take a look at almost 1,000 veterans taking part in this job fair organized by the u.s. chamber of commerce. and when i speak to different vets what they're telling me is, one, it's a bad job market, but, two, they also face the competition from civilians who are applying for jobs and the concern on the part of the employers -- although they're not supposed to do this -- worrying about a vet who may still be in the reserves who may

be reactivated, and they feel they're being passed over for some positions because of concerns that are either ill-placed or outright wrong. so there are going to be 100 of these job fairs, this is just the 11th. the biggest is going to be in los angeles july 10th, and actually the royal couple that just got married, the prince and princess, i guess, are going to be there as well. jenna: well, that's good to hear. >> reporter: yeah, that couple. jenna: we see a lot of great conversations happening as we're taking a look inside the fair. who's there? who's actually recruiting and looking for folks that have experience like some of these veterans? >> reporter: well, here in new york city it's just about everybody. you'd recognize some of the names from wall street like blackrock, but take a look, you're also going to see as you go down these aisles bank of america, citigroup, credit suisse, deutsche bank. they're actually some of the

organizers along with the chamber of commerce that are taking part in putting all of this together. but just about any big name in new york city is here recruiting. jenna: we hope some of those meetings that are happening right by you, adam, result in some great jobs. thank you very much, adam shapiro, with fox business on the uss intrepid. jon: there's an update on a senseless crime, four innocent people in the wrong place at the wrong time gunned down in a pharmacy. now some new detail on the arrest of this man, the suspect in that quadruple murder and why he is not the only one charged in this cold-blooded case. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

jon: right now top members of the obama administration providing more details to lawmakers about the troop drawdown in afghanistan and what it could mean for countries like

pakistan. joint chiefs chairman admiral michael mullen and secretary of state hillary clinton are both making appearances this morning on capitol hill. >> last night the president explained his plan to begin drawing down our forces next month and transitioning to afghan responsibility. i will leave it to my colleagues from the defense department to discuss the specifics, but the bottom line as the president said is that we have broken the taliban's momentum. so we do begin this drawdown from a position of strength. jon: democratic senator jeff murkily of oregon sits on the banking and budget committees, he's also one of 27 senators who wrote a bipartisan letter to president obama encouraging the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan. you were asking in that letter for more troops than the president is asking for, right, sir? >> well, the letter itself calls for a sizable and sustained reduction without mentioning a number, but i think a lot of us

would characterize that as 15-25,000 troops in the course of this calendar year, and that would be quite a bit more than the president is calling for. jon: but you've also heard the comments from, for instance, chairman mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who seems to indicate that he feels that the president is being a little more aggressive with troop withdrawal than he, the joint chiefs chairman, would like to see. >> well, i hope we have moved him a little bit in the right direction but not far enough yet. we went into afghanistan with three goals; take out the taliban government, take out the al-qaeda training camps, and hunt down those responsible for 9/11. those goals are largely accomplished, and we have a disproportional share of our resource, both military and financial, focused on a country where cis makes there are less than 100 al-qaeda, far more than other nations. we need to shift to a counterterrorism strategy, not a strategy of nation building that has inherent flaws, isn't

working, isn't going to work. ten years experimenting with it, need to pull the plug on that failed strategy. jon: but if experts, the military experts, the david petraeus' of the world and so forth at the pentagon are saying that, you know, a smaller number withdrawn at this point is a better number, why not listen to their advice? >> well, we should listen to the military experts on all sides and recognize in the end this is a civilian decision. we are in a democracy run by civilians, and we have military experts that are sharing their points of view, but i can show you a list of generals that have endorsed the letter that we sent to the president saying that this nation-building strategy is the wrong strategy. it is not a smart national security approach for our nation, it is inherently foiled by the very corruption that our money in afghanistan feeds. and so if we're creating the problem that has to be solved to build the institutions, we can never get there. we've seen that over these past years. we need to recognize that and

realize counterterrorism is why we went there, it's what we should be about. jon: senator merkley, democrat of california, good to have you on, thank you. jenna: a southwest airlines pilot suspended after a stunning rant that went out over the air space. jon: uh-oh. jenna: an accident because his microphone was left open in the cockpit. we're going to play this for you next.

jenna: welcome back, everybody. we have a fox news alert about another republican bailing on the debt talks with the vice president. our team here on "happening now" just confirming that senator jon kyl is leaving these debt talks. this follows the house majority leader, eric cantor, earlier today saying he will not participate in the debt talks saying that they have reached an impasse, and he feels that nothing more can really come of this. now, we're just getting the headline about senator kyl. we'll, hopefully, hear more comments from be him throughout the day today. also want to bring your

attention to the markets because wall street has certainly had a tough go of it today so far. several different factors including brand new numbers on our jobs market. we're going to be talking about that, but you can see the markets have been down about 200 points for most of the morning. now, the reason why the debt talks are connected here, remember, we have that debt ceiling deadline coming up, and there could be some fallout in the markets as well, and that comes to our money. more as we get it. hi, everybody, so glad you can join us today, i'm jenna lee. jon: we're not in our regular studios today because we had a little flood. jenna: we like to keep everyone guessing. jon: i'm jon scott, a brand new hour of "happening now". the casey anthony murder trial just went to recess moments ago. jenna: defense lawyers are trying to poke holes in the state's case, they're calling an fbi hair and fiber expert who

already took the stand for the prosecution. why are they doing this? phil keating is live outside the courthouse in orlando with the latest. hi, phil. >> reporter: hi, jenna. his testimony is key not only for prosecutors, but also the defense, that's why the defense calling him back on the stand. keep in mind, three summers ago investigators scoured casey anthony's car, and numerous witnesses in this trial have testified that the trunk of that car absolutely smelled like death. well, inside of that trunk investigators pulled out one thread of hair identified as caylee anthony's, and they say the prosecutor's witnesses, that that hair strand also showed the sign of death. inside the courtroom, we can't show you right now, we just broke for lunch. the jury's going to have a 90-minute break, but earlier today jose baez brought out posterboards of photos of hair strands to see if postmortem banding is full proof 100% of the time, and the fbi analyst

conceded sometimes hairs taken from living people were mistaken for hairs taken from dead people. >> but the science as it is right now is you cannot say that a specific hair, without knowing where it came from, came from a dead person, correct? >> we can't say that absolutely, right. >> with okay. >> reporter: but as casey anthony has been watching all along, she's wearing a pink sweater today and her hair tightly held back, she's once again watching another day of defense presentation. however, incredibly effective cross-examination by the state. prosecutor jeff ashton, he also questioned the same fbi analyst on the stand, and he told them that he wants the jury to weigh whether this science is 100% effective or at least, at minimum, is good enough to believe. >> of all the various conditions that you have exposed these hairs to, did you have any hairs

which were stored in a car or in a vehicle that displayed any kind of darkening that might be similar to or mistaken for postmortem banding? >> no. >> from vehicles? >> >> no. >> >> reporter: and late last night the attorney for george and cindy anthony, mark litman, was issuing furious e-mails and press releases to the media based on a report done on a different cable news network which suggested a conversation with the attorney that george and cindy anthony have stood by their daughter and still believe she is innocent. however, he says george and cindy anthony's opinion is that they don't know what happened. whatever the verdict here is, they absolutely do not want to see their daughter casey sent to death row but, ultimately, they're just trying to find out the truth. and as far as the defense strategy here to try to tie in george anthony as being

complicit in the death and disposal of caylee anthony's remains, his attorney, mark litman, says that is absolutely ridiculous. jenna: well, the truth sounds pretty good right now. we'll see if we can get to it. thank you very much, phil keating, in many florida today. jon: and a weather alert from the extreme weather center. a dangerous situation in north dakota right now as flood waters continue to rise. take a look at the scene in minot right now. water is already overtopping some of the levees there. evacuations are underway and in other nearby communities. but the local university has remained open. crews are constructing dikes to try to protect the campus and forecasters say the souris river is expected to reach historic levels early tomorrow, and that's just the beginning of the problems. meteorologist janice dean live in the fox weather center. >> reporter: it's going to take months for this river to start to recede, jon scott, and this is a hydrograph we look at and the changes of the flow of

the water of a river. and this is the souris river at minot. you can sees the expected to reach the record level, as jon mentioned, overnight tonight and then sur pass that and go even four feet further by the weekend. they haven't seen record heights like this since the 1800s. so this is historic flooding. i just want to show you where in terms this river is and where it flows. so there's the souris river flowing from saskatchewan and up towards manitoba, there's winnipeg, and it also links up with the red river that flows northward into canada. and the video is just incredible. unfortunately, it's going the continue throughout, again, the next few weeks, the next few months as we take a look at some of those flood waters that continue to rise. as many as 10,000 people evacuating, and it's all but certain to inundate thousands of homes and businesses by next week. obviously, flash flood warnings are in effect for the next

several days and weeks, jon scott, and we'll continue to watch this unfolding story from the fox weather center. back to you. jon: so sad. all those people, 10,000 people evacuated in one shot. >> reporter: it's incredible, and, unfortunately, the snow melt across the rockies is going to continue, jon. this is going to be an ongoing story throughout the summer for cities all the way downstream and up stream. jon: janice dean, thanks. jenna: and a fox news alert on a new stalemate in negotiations to solve the debt crisis. house majority leader eric cantor along with fellow republican senator jon kyl withdrawing from talks headed up by the vice president. for more of what this means and why is this happening now, jim angle's live in washington. those are a lot of questions, jim. hopefully, you have some answers. [laughter] there's been a lot of drama down there in d.c. this morning. >> reporter: it is a wild day on the debt reduction front. as you said, house majority leader eric cantor threatened to

pull out of the bipartisan deficit reduction cut talks altogether. neither he nor kyl will attend today's scheduled session, but he threatened to pull out altogether saying, quote, as it stands the democrats continue to insist that any deal must include tax increases. there is not support in the house for a tax increase, and i don't believe now is the time to raise taxes in the light of our current economic situation. speaker john boehner said the same thing just minutes ago noting the talks can continue if tax hikes are ruled out. but he agreed with cantor's statement that the president must now take a stand. cantor said, quote, it is time for the president to speak clearly and resolve the tax issue. once he does that, cantor says, the negotiations have established a blueprint to move forward with trillions of spending cuts. sources say it's the white house that's pushing for tax increases. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell said this morning it's mystifying that anyone would make that a condition for an agreement on debt reduction.

listen. >> it's mystifying not only because of the absurdity of propose ago tax hike as a way to help the economy and create jobs, it's mystifying above all because we know quite well that a tax hike would never make it through congress. not because of republican opposition, but because of republican and democratic opposition. we've already had the votes to prove it. >> reporter: now, mcconnell also noted that tax increases wouldn't pass when democrats controlled both houses of congress. then he said this: >> either someone on the other side has forgotten that there's strong bipartisan, bipartisan opposition in congress to raising taxes, or someone involved is acting in the bad faith. >> reporter: now, the president and the vice president are scheduled to meet today at the white house with two democratic leaders and two negotiators in the debt talks, the democratic representatives, but the later talks will be short it appears now two republicans unless the president

clarifies what he is seeking and where he stands on tax increases. jenna? jenna: we'll see if he does it. in the meantime, more snacks for everybody that are there, you have two less people. [laughter] >> reporter: more to go around, right. unlike federal dollars. jenna: very good, jim. tying it back to the story. i appreciate that. jim angle live in washington watching this developing story. thank you very much to jim. i want to tell you guys about this response we just got from the democratic caucus. javier bo sera, vice chair of the house democratic caucus, issuing this statement saying, quote, instead of making the hard choices to find a responsible way to reduce the deficit, republicans are running away from the mess they created. is this adult moment they promised the american people in november? again, that coming from representative bow sera. certainly not the final statement we're going to get on this. people can say they're not going to participate, come back in. we're up against the deadline of the debt ceiling looming on the

horizon. we'll keep you updated as we hear more. jon: a mobster on the run living large for 6 -- 16 years until now. notorious boston mob boss whitey bullier busted in southern california thank toss a tip, and somebody could be getting a $2 million reward. president obama gives the pentagon some new marching orders for afghanistan. 33,000 troops coming home by next year. we'll talk with one of the president's national security advisers. and harris has today's must-see moment for you. harris? >> reporter: well, i'm hoping that our viewers will decide on one of my favorites, but i'm not allowed to vote, jon. here they are. foxnews.com/happeningnow, you go to our web site, you go to our "happening now" page, and about halfway down on the right-hand side you'll see the choices. is there a pot of gold at the end of this? there's a huge rainbow that's captured around a plane. we'll tell you what happened there and whether -- could they see it from inside the plane?

or siberian tigers, a gift from russia. they're beautiful. we'll check it out if you choose that story, to learn more about it. and police looking for some help outside a 7-eleven store. it is must-see video, a crash, a clerk gunned down. we'll be back in just a moment. - a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more amecans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... f greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. [ ma announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. ♪ [ male announcer ] what is the future of fuel? the debate is over. ♪ lexus hybrid drive technogy is designed to optimize any fuel source on the planet. even those we don't use yet. because when you pursue perfection, you don't just engineer a future-proof hybrid system. you engineer amazing.

♪ jenna: well, three crime stories we're queening an eye -- keeping an eye on, federal prosecutors releasing new evidence in the release of the marine corps reservist that we've been talking about recently linking him to a series of shootings at mill fair targets -- military targets near washington d.c. they found a video he took of himself praising allah while firing shots at a military building last fall. boston mob boss james whitey bulger now behind bars after 16 years on the fbi's most wanted list, and a new publicity campaign leading to his capture

thanks to a tip, and somebody could be in for a big payday because of that. he had a $2 million reward on his head. amazing. also, it's day might be for the rod blagojevich jury, deliberations resuming behind closed doors in the impeached governor's corruption charge. so far there's no sign which way the jurors are leaning. jon: right now some new outrage over a southwest airlines pilot's offensive rant that went out over his open cockpit microphone. it's burning up the internet, and we're learning he's already back to work. harris has the latest. >> reporter: yeah. i just want to make sure, is this thing on? [laughter] probably something he should have done, right? okay. it's going viral. and you need a bleep machine for this one. tough language. videotape showing a southwest airlines pilot complaining about the airlines' flight attendants. it first hit the airwaves when a local television station in houston reported about it this week, and now the pilot's rant

is all over. it happened in march. here it is. >> reporter: yeah. the pilot, apparently, did not hear the warnings that there was an open microphone even though they warned him over and over. the tape goes on like that for about two and a half minutes. southwest airlines is not naming the pilot but says he's worked for the airline for more than 12 years and has an otherwise clean record. a statement from southwest now saying the actions of this pilot are without question inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect that we require from our employees, end quote. he was suspended without pay while taking sensitivity

training. he is back on the job now. it wasn't all that long ago, it's only june. the union now filing a bias complaint with the federal governme. this is not over yet. jon? jon: unbelievable. >> reporter: i know. it is! you can't make it up. jon: i've had a stuck mic in the cockpit before once or twice, but you generally don't say those types of things. >> reporter: well, there are mics all over the newsroom. there are mics everywhere in our society now. jon: maybe that's why i try to keep it clean. >> reporter: keep your freak on the inside. jenna: whoa. did you just hear that? that's not the reason we're not in the newsroom today, by the way. jon: no. broken pipe. little flood, happens every day. jenna: all right, moving on to this other story. you know, casey anthony is back in if court of her lawyers are trying to raise reasonable doubt

in the jurors' minds about the prosecution's case. are they getting the job done? our legal panel is here, and their mics will be open, by the way. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with the strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. didn't taste so vegetably? well, v8 v-fusion juice gives you a full serving of vegetables, plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. and try our deliciously refreshing v8 v-fusion + tea.

jenna: right now on capitol hill highly-charged hearings in both the house and the senate on what's next for our mission in afghanistan. the recent tensions between our country and pakistan raising more questions over what to do in the region. joining me now is dennis mcdonough, deputy national security adviser who is part of the discussions with the president for the recent troop surge as well as the drawdown now. dennis, nice to have you today. >> jenna, thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to be here. jenna: let's talk about these 33,000 troops coming out of afghanistan over the course of the next year or so. who exactly are they? are they combat troops?

>> well, you know, exact numbers, locations and makeup of those forces coming out will be a decision for general petraeus and then general allen thereafter to make. the president set out the objectives here, and he's going to give the flexibility to the commander in the field to decide how best to meet those national objectives. jenna: as far as the armed forces go, it certainly is a select group of people. it doesn't necessarily include the cia, and can there's been reports that our war on terror is shifting away from land operations and more to covert operations. and i'm curious if this drawdown in troops in afghanistan is a signal that we're building up forces in the cia, and that's really the direction our mission is going there? >> well, i'm not going to get into any discussion of intelligence or covert matters. there was an interesting piece of intelligence that was declassified today speaking to how bin laden felt the impact

of the pressure from our troops, from our intelligence professionals, how frustrated he was that he and his movement kept killing muslims, and it was us who was calling him out on that. and obviously, also, how he was having a very hard time getting his message out. so i'm not going to get into any intelligence matters other than those declassified things. but any signal we want to send won't, al-qaeda will not have to interpret. they're going to hear from us, they're going to hear from us the way they have now for two-and-a-half years. we're going to stay on the offense, be that in afghanistan, pakistan, in yemen, in somalia, in southeast asia or elsewhere. again, we're not in the signal-sending business, we're in the strength business, and we're going to keep the heat on them. jenna: what message do you think you are sending, though, saying that troops are coming out and that we're going to be done, essentially, by 2014 in afghanistan? >> i think the first thing is exactly what the president said last night which is an expression of deep appreciation and thanks to our troops and

their families for all the great work that they've done now in if almost a decade of war -- in almost a decade of war since the attacks on 9/11. the other message we're sending is one that is very loud and clear and was quite clear on may 1st which is this president does what he says he will do. he said he would end the war in iraq, we've done that bringing out 100,000 troops and ending the combat mission. he said that we'd go after bin laden, even in many pakistan if we had to. he did that on may 1st. he said that we would bring the resources to bear for the effort in afghanistan, he did that with two surges other the course of the last two and a half years, and he said we'd begin the drawdown of our troops in july of this year, july 2011. he's just announced last night that we're doing that too. so this is a president, this is a country, this is an armed forces that does what it says it will do. jenna: on that, doing what we say we're going to do, why, why make this announcement now? there's been plenty of speculation about political

motivations. you provided us a list of different accomplishments, you say, for the president. why now? why choose to talk about this and telegraph system of our movements now? >> well, this isn't accomplishments for the president, these are accomplishments for the country. they're accomplish. s that because of the hard work and sacrifices of our families, you're more secure, my family's more secure. we're forever in our debt for that. that's one. two, why would we make the announcement about a september 2012 drawdown? the short answer is because the president said this would be an 18 to 24-month drawdown. we got the surge forces in, the tenth mountain division unit which, incidentally, the president will be visiting today up in fort drum, on the ground in september 2010. that gives us two full years from september 2010 to september 2012 to allow that surge force to work, and even a year into that surge you've seen a remarkable impact that our

troops are having on the ground. kandahar is just but one example of that. jenna: you know, dennis, you talked about -- >> this is washington, so there'll be all sorts of back and fort. this isn't a political issue for the president. jenna: you focused on the security of our families. you mentioned one part of afghanistan, kandahar. i'd like to ask you about another part as well because we keep on hearing as far as our national security and our safety, it's really about pakistan. and if we can, if we could show our viewers the positioning of afghanistan next to pakistan and some of the border areas. there's been reports that we have taken troops away from the border of pakistan. i'd like your thoughts on this. if pakistan remains unstable and we're leaving afghanistan, how are we being proactive in making sure that we stay safe? >> well, i think what you've seen is -- i'm not able to see the map there, but if you look down in kandahar down in the south, what we've been able to do is, this is the wisdom of

general mcchrystal and then general petraeus' plan thereafter is to take the fight to the taliban in its heartland, kandahar, helmand, those are the heartland of the taliban. our guys are making good progress, and we believe we can consolidate that progress over the course of the next year. as it relates to the east, we're doing that lot of innovate ig things there. one of the great things we're doing is standing up local afghan units of police, training them, equipping them so they take charge of their security in that region rather than relying on our troops. so what we're doing is very simple, jenna. we're training up the afghans to take control of their own future to insure that, one, we degrade, defeat and dismantle al-qaeda and, two, insure that afghanistan and as you say pakistan does not become a safe haven for al-qaeda. we're doing that because we're training afghans, and we're

doing it because as the president showed on may 1st anybody who thinks he has a safe haven should think twice. jenna: dennis, it's nice to have have -- it's nice of you to join us today. we look forward to checking back in with you as this story develops. thank you very much, sir. >> you're so kind to have me. thank you very much. jon: bad news on the job front, the labor department reporting a new jump in unemployment today after fed chairman ben bernanke warned our economic problems might last longer than he thought. we'll get a look at what this all means for job seekers right now. and we have three hot pieces of video for our top story today, and we're still looking for your vote. it's either the chinese rainbow, the siberian tiger or a man who gets pinned by a car. hmm. we are going to show you more of the one with the most votes, so cast your ballot, foxnews.com/happeningnow. pick your top choice for our

must-see moment of the day. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is lisa, who tries to stay ahd of her class. morning starts with arthritis pain... that's two pills before the first bell. [ bell rings ] it's time for recess... and more pills. afternoon art starts and so does her knee pain, that's two more pills. almost ne, but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve cause it can relieve pain all day with just two pills. this is lisa... who switched to aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief oaleve in liquid gels.

a complete four course seafood feast for $15. start with soup then have salad and biscuits followed by 1 of 7 delicious entrees and finish with something sweet all for just $15. right now at red lobster. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

jon: forensic evidence on hair and fiber kicking off today's testimony at the casey anthony murder trial in florida. the defense is looking for weak spots in the prosecution case and trying to poke holes in them. let's talk about it with tad

nelson a former prosecutor himself. jennifer brandt is a trial attorney. jennifer, has the defense succeeded from what you heard so far today? >> i think they're doing a very good job in poking holes in the prosecution's case. they are showing that there's no direct evidence linking casey anthony to the death of the child, caylee. but i think what they have to do now is prove the allegations that they brought out at the beginning of their case where they said that george anthony was involved in this situation and that, you know, casey has been the victim of sexual abuse. so we have to see if they're able to go further now and prove that. jon: tad, no direct evidence. it is a circumstantial case. the prosecution has always said that. but given the circumstantial evidence they have been able to bring to bear here, have they proven their case? >> i think they have. i think it's been overwhelming and the prosecution, what they have done here they have been very diligent. they have dotted every eye, they crossed every t.

they have nothing sexy. the only thing sexy they have is the jailhouse videos from casey. everything else was very regmented. they brought in people about the hair. air samples out of the car. the different fibers found in the car. chloroform smells. and all of that, all, it's novel science at best. some people even called it junk science. but it starts to add up. they dotted it. they have done everything they have to do. they laid it out and been very thorough. i think it is overwhelming. >> despite that they still haven't shown there has been direct link. despite all the experts some which have been testifying in the defense's case. they haven't shown there is direct tie between casey and the murder or death of the child. jon: jennifer, was it a mistake though for the defense to put out this story how caylee supposedly died in the family swimming pool? they even gave a date to i it, june 16th, 2008. to my knowledge they haven't

put on anybody who can rob rate that story? >> right now. now we have to see if casey anthony is going to testify and be able to corroborate that story. i don't think it was a mistake if they truly can prove it. i do think if it was a mistake all they're doing is poking holes in the prosecution case and never take the next step to prove allegations they set forth originally. then they have a problem. jon: tad, it seems like if you put out a specific story like that, jose baez has been criticized pretty roundly for the opening statement that he made. in saying that the child drowned on june 16th, that her father, casey's father was complicit in getting rid of the body and covering up the death, you would think they would want to put in, baez would want to put in some defense witnesses could buttress that story? >> you would hope so. because if he doesn't, you got to wonder what he was talking about in opening argument, opening statement. you're supposed to tell the

jury what is coming. he has to have something planned. i don't know what it is. he keeps talking about we have surprise witnesses coming and he better have them. hear is the problem. i don't know that he ever saw the jailhouse videos. some of the things he says about casey's death it doesn't mash with the videos. there are conversations between her and her dad. there are conversations between the dad and the mom, still, where's the child. if the child died at the pool, they know that -- >> let me jump in here. there are also conversations where casey specifically said she doesn't want to involve the family and problems with the family, sort of leading us to believe there was something bigger or allegedly trying to cover up. >> casey is pathological. there is little doubt. so anything that she told the family in the videos, it just makes her look even more pathological. jon: for that reason, tad, you wouldn't put her on the stand? >> i don't think they can. i mean there is nothing that has added up. from the evidence that's been shown there is nothing

that adds up. now i can only imagine all the other stuff that the prosecution has on her. they will, it will be the most embarrassing three or four days of her life. i mean, and every time she speaks, that jury is going to have another reason to despise her. they will end up hating her, they will not mind her dying. jon: we'll see if she takes the stand. my prediction she won't. >> i don't think so. >> jennifer brandt, tad nelson. thank you. >> thank you. jon: you can get complete coverage of the casey anthony trial on "studio b." shepard smith will be along to talk about all of today's twists and turns. and there are always a bunch of them. don't miss it. 3:00 p.m. eastern time. jenna: about divisions and turns, here is fox news alert what is happening in the oil market if any of you have to fill up your tank now and weeks to come. we have oil dropping now approximately to $90 a barrel. it is a drop of 4 to $5 in one day.

that's a sizable drop. one of the reasons that is happening, well the reason it is happening is there is a headline coming out of washington, d.c. we're releasing barrels of oil, 30 million, from our strategic petroleum reserves. this is important. these are the reserves we set aside in case of an emergency. for example, the last time we released anything from the spr is during hurricane katrina and rita, when we had all the disruptions. at the same time the international energy agency is releasing 30 million barrels of oil. so we have 60 million released on the market. more supply can drop the price that is what is happening now. you can see that at the pump in the coming weeks. a jump today in the weekly jobless number as well. another 429,000 americans collected benefits over the latest week. take a look at that. 11 weeks in a row the total has been above 400,000. now this is on the heels of yesterday's warning on the economy. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke offering a pessimistic out look and no clear reason why it's taking

so long for the economy to recover. >> we do believe that growth is going to pick up going into 2012 but at a somewhat slower pace than we had anticipated in april. we don't have a precise read on why this, slower pace of growth is persisting. jenna: well, phil izzo, news editor of "the wall street journal." phil, ben bernanke being one of the smartest guys out there, why don't the smart guys know exactly what is going on here? >> the problem is they know some of it but they don't know all of it. we've seen over the last couple things a lot of temporary things. jenna: weather and things like that? >> weather was bad early in the year. we were saying first three months were bad because there was so much snow and all this trouble going on. then we were hoping the second quarter would be a little bit better. then they had the earthquake in japan and the replayering of the greek tensions and

then, oil prices started going up so the second quarter started going down. when we saw that happening, bernanke said, well, you know, for the most part we're on a path and a positive path but we need to get past these things and things will improve. the problem we saw yesterday is, he still believes that. that most of these things are temporary. they're going to get better but even the level of better they're still --. jenna: that's where you get that hesitation from him. >> right. jenna: you want to read between the lines a little bit with ben bernanke. >> exactly. jenna: very careful with his words. the question for all of us, phil, how nervous should we be? if they're a little hesitant, the federal reserve being them and economists how nervous should the rest of us be we're really stuck in this slow economic pace? >> well, bernanke is right, that a lot of this is temporary. a lot of this is --, we've seen the thing with oil today like you mentioned earlier. jenna: sure. >> prices are going down. that is not a great thing because a lot of reason why prices are going down people are worried about demand but

at the same time we're also seeing prices, that is going to help translate to more consumer spending. it will help people go out there and be able to spend more money. jenna: you still think there could be a pickup toward the end of the year for people to feel better? >> as we get towards the end of this year people hopefully -- one of the biggest things we see with consumer confidence is oil prices and gas prices. when people pay more money at the pump they immediately feel worse because they can't spend that money anyplace else. one of those things that is so visible that people see every day, that really drains on confidence. so, a decline there could help boost things later. jenna: we'll see what happens. we'll hold you to it. we'll save the tape. >> no problem. jenna: i know, jon, you get a little upset when you see high gas prices. jon: i had to fill up two cars yesterday and that's why i couldn't eat breakfast. i couldn't afford it. jenna: he was eating on set i can verify that. jon: free food from the greenroom. that is for sure. lindsay lohan my favorite actress is in host water again. she is due back in a los

angeles courtroom today. why? she reportedly tested positive for alcohol use. she is on probation for a drinking d.u.i. and that's a no-no, so is lindsay heading for jail? 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

>> coming up on "america live", two of the key republicans inside the debt limit talks walk out. they say unless democrats stop insisting on tax hikes they will stay out. we're at an impasse. so what happens now? former u.n. alabama ambassador john dolt ton speaks in front of congress that we're close to the point of no return in terms of iraq getting its own nukes. who gets to interpret what the constitution really means. catholic university faces a lawsuit because the university president wants to end coed dorms. a man argues that having single sex dorms amounts to illegal discrimination. all the latest news at the

top of the hour. jenna: we're looking forward to that at. holding them when they should have been folding them. several celebrities were involved in illegal poker games. seems money they won was a part of a ponzi scheme. now investors want their money back. entertainment reporter courtney friel live in the newsroom to report on this how did this all begin? >> reporter: this was three or four years ago when a hedge fund manager lost $25 million of his money in underground games held in posh la hotel suites and his home. he is in bankruptcy and lawyers are. like, for example, actor tobey maguire for $31,000. his reps had no comments today -- $311,000. other reps that played in the games. ben affleck, matt damon and leonardo did i cap preyo. it is illegal in california

to play in underground poker club. worst-case scenario for those being sued, $1,000 fine and six months in jail. legal experts say that is unlikely. it is a crime rarely prosecuted and l.a.p.d. had no comment. i hosted a poker show a few years back. i keep in touch with a lot of professional poker players. i talked to them. they know people involved in the lawsuit. they claim they didn't know this guy ran a ponzi scheme. he was a very bad player and the whole situation is quote, ridiculous and horrible. jenna: sounds, with all those big names involved. that's headline-grabbing. we'll stay on that and see how that story develops. cort. jon wants to know more about this what is happening with lindsay lohan? apparently the test on alcohol consumption came back positive. she sunday house arrest. i mean what's the latest? >>reporter: yeah the drama continues there is another probation violation hearing scheduled for 10:00 a.m. pacific today. that is in 12 minutes. we have some video of

lindsay. i believe she just arrived in the courtroom. this all happened because she was tested twice last week for drugs and alcohol and one came up positive for alcohol. that is according to "tmz". it was just yesterday, i reported on fox411.com, lindsay insisted she was 100% sober. the l.a. county probation department wants her thrown back in jail. they are ticked off because she has been having barbecues on her rooftop with friends while serving her house arrest. she is supposed to done that house arrest stint on june 29th but now she could very likely be headed back to jail. we're going to continue to follow that. check back to fox411.com. jenna: rooftop. not backyard. does that count? i guess it does. she is on the property. >> it was. but she was supposed to stay sober. jenna: correct. that is probably the broader point. courtney, thank you very much. courtney friel, fox 441 or all the latest information. that is one of jon's favorite.

jon: you see the tear forming? jenna: lindsay can't get a break. no barbecues. jon: president obama offering a new timetable to bring 33 thousand troops home from afghanistan by next summer. faster than a lot of people had expected. his top military commander calls it a risky move. straight ahead we'll ask senator joe looeber man what he -- lieberman what he thinks about the president's decision.

jon: new info on some stories we're following from coast to coast. cleanup underway after a possible tornado hits the home of the kentucky derby. remarkably no horses or people hurt at churchhill downs but the storm damaging workers homes, the stables, and a chapel. houston is the scene of a deadly bus crash. the bus apparently came in contact with a truck and then slammed into a train

overpass. no passengers on board at the time. but the driver reportedly died at the scene. in california, an update on the baseball fan brutally beat own outside dodger stadium. brian stow's condition has now been upgraded from critical to serious. he was attacked back in march. >> i do not intend to discuss the specifics of the private advice i rendered with respect to these decisions as i said, i support them. what i can tell you is the president's decisions are more aggressive and incur more risk than i was originally prepared to accept. jenna: the chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mike mullen testifying today before the house armed services committee weighing in on the president's plan to withdraw more than 30,000 troops from afghanistan by the end of next summer. we're bringing in connecticut senator joe lieberman, chairman. homeland security committee

and member of armed services committee as well. senator, nice to have you as always. >> thanks, jenna. good to be with you. jenna: you issued a statement after the president's address last night saying you were disappointed by this plan. considering the financial and emotional state of the country, meaning that many americans are war-weary, what's the alternative to the plan that the president presents? >> well the alternative is pretty much along the lines of what admiral mullen i think was saying. there is not a big difference here between us. president obama and i certainly agree that winning, succeeding in afghanistan is an important to the united states because we don't want the taliban and al qaeda to come back and take over the place from which they attacked us on 9/11. the other thing we agree on is that the 33 thousand additional troops that president obama surge understood afghanistan which made such a constructive difference ought to be out

pretty much by the end of 2012. but what we do disagree on is the pace of the withdrawal. and, this is just moving us forward three or four months. jenna: why do you think there is that, why do you think the decision was made? if it's a difference of three to four months are you saying this is politically motivated? >> i'm not saying it because i don't know what the motivation is. i'm sure the president is hearing from people that we ought to get out as soon possible but, i don't think you ever want to leave a battlefield for reasons of psychology back home, if you agree that the cause for which you're fight something important to our security and freedom at home, and i do. in other words, there's a fighting season in afghanistan based on the weather. generally runs from about march to october. i wouldn't begin withdrawing troops until after this fighting season in october and i wouldn't, as the president has apparently decided, begin with drawing

all of the remainder of our surge troops by next september at the latest. i would wait until the end of the year. so what's really important to me now is that the commanders on the ground, the military and our troops, be given some leeway by the president to come back to him and say, we really need to slow the pace of this withdrawal down. we are going to get all our surge troops out by the end of next year but things are beginning to go in the wrong direction here at this pace so let's us take a little longer time. i hope the president will be open to that. jenna: senator lieberman, thanks as always for joining us. i have a list of questions but we're up against the end of our show. i can't ask them. senator lieberman, thank you very much. >> thank you. jenna: and we'll be right back with more happening now [ male announcer ] this is larry...

whose long day starts with arthritis pain... and a choice. take tylenol arthritis and maybe up to s in a day... or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain.

happy chopping. a living, breathing intelligence that's helpi drive the future of business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ machines have a voice. ♪ medical history follows you. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities... committed to delivering the most advced mobile broadband experience to help move business... forward. ♪ greg: your choice for the must see moment. the kirk lar rainbow i